I used to be a man...(names thread)

My mother’s name is Shelley Dale.

It was chosen before her birth and would have been given to her even if she was a boy. Shelley Berman (male) was a popular comedian at the time, and Dale Evans (female) was a singin’ cowgirl.

I know men named Beverley and Lynn.

And Robin Hood’s tights do an excellent job to convince us of his manhood. :wink:

Kim is a male name. Rudyard Kipling has a story titled Kim, the protagonist being Kimball O’Hara, and very much male indeed.

In this case Shelley is short for Sheldon.
Lynn is a man’s name in Wales.

Yes, I’ve also met a guy named Lynn.

Also, oddly enough, there’s a female professor at the University of Winnipeg whose first name is Keith.

I have also seen the name Corey/Cory for both males and females. I haven’t noticed any particular spelling for either gneder - I recall seeing both, but I really not sure.

I also know of a couple female Shawn’s. Thats kind of funny to me, since its my brother’s name!

I went to school with a boy Cary and a girl Carrie.

And I also recall reading somewhere that Joan/John used to be interchangeable. (sorry no cite, feel free to debunk that one if I’m wrong)

Well, “Joan” is still a male name in Catalan, the equivalent of “John”. I’ve never come across this phenomenon in English, though.

Except, IIRC, the it’s pronounced hoe-AHN (as in Miro) - essentially a variant of Juan.

I have a great-uncle named Vivian and a male friend named Alexis.

I have known guys with almost every “female” name mentioned here, Shannon, Shirley, Beverly – but I’ve never heard of a male Clare! In one small town, there was a male lawyer named Beverley, and he named is daughter Beverly and she grew up to be a lawyer and they went into practice together.

My brother’s middle name is Lynn, named for my mother’s male cousin Lynn. The feminine of this name is Lynne, which almost no one uses.

I know two male Gales; one I think was named that, the other is short for Gaylord. I think he spells it Gayle, which looks feminine to me.

Names are interesting things.

In Clarence Day’s classic Life with Father, his father (for whom the author was named) goes by Clare.

My sister used to date a guy named Erin.
Mr. S has a male friend named Lynn, and a sister-in-law who has a very girly given name, but goes by “Mike” (which is nothing like her real name).

My foster brother’s name is Corey. Long ago, I had a male best friend named Shane who lived with two of his female cousins, named Corrie and Shayne. In high school I knew a boy named Shayne.
Consensus:
Corey = male
Corrie = Female
Shane = Male
Shayne = Either

Well, maybe not Christopher Robin, considering his name is Christopher.

Hillary

???

Oh, they’re not supposed to rhyme! I was sitting here thinking “hoe-AHN… Mi… what the hell?”

How about Marion?

My friend’s father is named Laverne (oddly enough, he has a sister named Shirley).

I once dated a guy by the name of Loren.

The guy who arranged my mortgage is named Lynn.

I work down the hall from a man named Gail. My sister-in-law is named Gail too. (same spelling)

In law school, two of my favorite professors were named Leslie (male) and Dale (male).

Where I live (south central Pennsylvania) there are lots of males named Dale. It seems to be a fairly common male name around here.

Zappo
(Real name Sal; dimunitive of “Salvatore”, not “Sally”).

Oops. I should’ve clarified - the example is the artist Joan Miró. But I guess you figured that out already.

I know a guy named Audrey. And all the Dales I know are male, except Dale Evans, so I’d say she’s an anomaly.

I knew a guy from Russia named Sasha. I always thought of that as a girl’s name until I met him.

I always thought:
Carol = girl [e.g. Burnett]
Carrol = boy [e.g. Shelby]